KOMPAS.com – Have you ever seen a solar eclipse? During a solar eclipse, the sky becomes darker. Do you know how a solar eclipse happens? Check out this article, ok!
A solar eclipse is a condition when the positions of the sun and the moon appear parallel to the earth, so that the sunlight is blocked by the moon. This can happen because the moon and the earth both change.
A revolution is a condition when a celestial body orbits another celestial body.
In the case of a solar eclipse, the planet earth revolves around the sun while the moon is a satellite of the earth that goes around the planet earth.
Read also: Because of the rotation and rotation of the Earth
When the earth and the moon change, sometimes the two celestial bodies are in a parallel position. This is what causes a solar eclipse.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is between the sun and the earth. In this situation, the sunlight that should be shining on the earth will be blocked by the moon.
You may be asking, why can the sunlight be blocked by the moon which is smaller than the sun and cause a solar eclipse?
This is caused by the different distances between the moon and the sun from the earth.
Read also: Does the moon spin?
The moon is closest to the earth, which is about 384,400 kilometers, and the distance between the sun and the earth is about 150.07 million kilometers.
Because the sun is further from the earth, some of the sunlight can be blocked by the moon which is closer to the earth.
However, a solar eclipse cannot affect all areas on earth because the position of the moon is only in certain parts of the earth.
Sunlight that comes from the other side and is not blocked by the moon can still reach the earth.
Read also: Lunar Ocean: A large depression on the Moon
An example can be seen in the total solar eclipse that occurred on April 8, 2024.
In this phenomenon, only a few areas will see the solar eclipse, namely the city of Dallas and a small number of countries on the North American continent.
Reference:
- How Eclipses Work. Retrieved 14 April 2024, from NASA: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/how-eclipses-work
- Science Mission Directorate. (n.d.). 2024 Total Eclipse: Where & When. Retrieved April 14, 2024, from NASA: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/
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2024-04-15 11:00:00
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